Nightshade's Promise
by rubydesires
Summary: What did Nightshade do to have a part in the exorcism chant? COMPLETE!


**AN: **Here's a loverly little one-shot about Nightshade. Yup. This idea came from AceLions, actually. Well, the whole "why is Nightshade in the chant" idea. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

_Hands vermillion_

_Start of five_

_Bright cotillion_

_Raven's dive_

_Nightshade's promise_

_Spirits strive_

_To the living_

_Let now the dead--_

"Whoa, hold on," Beetlejuice said to himself and scanned the latest exorcism chant again.

Either that was his Nightshade or it was just the plant. Neither made sense. But now he was actually paying attention to what he was reading, and he could taste the ever so faint flavor of strawberries that was all her. Yup, it was his Nightshade.

The door opened, and Nightshade walked into Juno's office. She glanced over at Beetlejuice, sitting in one of the chairs with his boots up on the case worker's desk.

"B, what are you doin'?"

He looked down at the book in his lap, and shrugged before answering her. "Goin' through the new Handbook."

"Yeah, I got mine yesterday. Still haven't read it yet. Where's Juno?"

"Out."

"Yer a lotta help. I thought you'd know, seein' as yer her _assistant_."

"Hey, it ain't like she tells me everythin'. What d'ya need her for?"

Nightshade dropped a folder on the desk. "I've got the folder she was lookin' for. I've gotta get back to the store, so I'll see ya later."

"Nights?" he asked as she started to leave.

"Hm?"

"Why are you in the new exorcism chant?"

* * *

I made damn sure the door was latched and locked. I only made that mistake once. Leaning my back against said door, I turned to look at the bastard. He was bound and gagged. Didn't want him alerting the authorities. With his wrists tied behind his back, and his ankles tied to the leg of the chair, he wasn't going anywhere soon. Yeah, he was a poltergeist, too, but I'd pumped so much majik into the ropes there was no way he'd escape.

"Y'know, sweetheart? You really made a mistake." I walked up to him slowly. Sure, I was layin' on the theatrics, but I was pissed.

"See, I know BJ can be a total ass. Hell, I've been with him for a helluva lot longer than anybody else. So, I know. But you can't try to get him exorcised without dealin' with me. He's like my brother. I care about him. Therefore, I'm gonna kick the ass of anybody who tries to . . . well, you know what I mean. Did you know," I said, straddling his lap, "poltergeists can perform exorcism, too." There was probably a damn good reason why only the Powers That Be did them, but those minor details didn't matter at the moment.

When he didn't answer, I just sighed in annoyance. There was no point in prolongin' this little ordeal. I slid my hands up under his shirt towards his ghost heart.

"Look, have you ever actually _seen_ an exorcism? I have, and it looks fuckin' painful. Havin' yer energy ripped from yer body. But the thing about pain is, well, it's kind of a marker. See, you know when yer about to pass out and or die. So, I've decided to try it another way. It's a lot scarier when you don't know when it's gonna happen. I promise you won't feel a thing."

I sharpened my nails on the hand over his heart so I could pierce his skin. Hey, I needed access to his energy, otherwise I wouldn't be able to drain him. And if they were sharp enough, it still wouldn't hurt.

Just breakin' the skin, I had to reach out with my own energy to snag his.

Perhaps I should have planned this better.

I knew his energy was gonna go _somewhere_. . .

. . . I just didn't think it was gonna go in _me_.

It wasn't like I could just _stop_! I had to drain him! But the rush of all his energy goin' into me was _not _a comfortable feelin'. I looked at him, and nearly screamed. Holy fuck! He was freakin' gettin' hella old! Oh, I should have planned this better. Yeah, I had lied when I said I'd seen an exorcism. I mean, I knew what they did, and just sorta put two and two together. But I didn't know this would happen. It was fuckin' creepy!

I practically jumped back as soon as the rush stopped. I was shakin' from the sudden extreme increase in energy. That or the fact it was someone else's. Probably the latter.

Shit. I had really fucked up.

I didn't even look at him before majiking myself directly to Juno's office. I didn't care if she was with a client.

Luckily, she wasn't. I plopped down in one of the chairs.

"By the Fae, Juno, I really, really fucked up." I groaned, and doubled over, my hands clutching my head. Well, shit, my nails on the one hand were still sharp, and pain laced through my skull where they cut.

"What did you do, Nightshade?"

"I . . . I guess I performed an exorcism."

"You what?!"

I looked up at her. Damn, she was pissed. "I per--"

"Yes, I heard you! Are you telling me you did it _yourself_?"

"Umm, yes?"

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Well, B--"

"Shut up. So you ripped a ghost's energy from him?"

I didn't answer 'cause I didn't know if she was gonna tell me to shut up again. But when she didn't say anything else, I figured she was waitin' for an answer.

"No. I drained him."

"Drained him?"

"Yeah, then he wouldn't feel it."

She didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"Umm, Juno, can we fix this?" I finally asked.

"Fix what, Nightshade?"

"His energy is in me." I could taste it. And I didn't like it. His tasted like wine. I used to like wine--hell, it was basically all I had drunk while I was alive. But now? Now I'd hate it for all eternity.

"Obviously. Why do you think only the Powers That Be do it? And why they _all _do it?"

Yup, I definitely should've thought through this little plan of mine.

"Sooo, we can't do anythin' about it?"

She took a drag on her cigarette before answerin' me. "There's one thing we can do. Rip it out of you. It'll hurt."

"It hurts now." It felt like my insides were way too big and they were trying to force their way out.

Juno nodded, and picked up her phone. "We've got a problem . . . . Look, I don't care if it's _tea time_, there's a ghost here with way too much energy in her system. Do you want to clean up the mess when she blows?"

What?! I was gonna explode?! _Noooo!_ I'm too pretty to be a bloody mess on the walls! I whimpered a little.

"Good," she said, slamming the phone down. Then two other male ghosts appeared on either side of me.

Juno glared at both of them. "She managed to perform an exorcism, all by herself, in a far more efficient way then we ever could, and his energy is in her. Get it out."

When this was over, I was sooo gettin' me a cookie.

The dark haired one looked down at me with a sneer. I sneered right back. I wasn't gonna take this shit.

"You found a more efficient way?"

"Yeah. What's it to ya?"

"Tell us, and we'll get that extra energy out of you."

"Fine. I drained him, instead of ripping it out. He didn't feel a thing." I opted to leave out the little aging part.

Before I could do anything else, they grabbed my shoulders, and ripped the extra energy from my body.

It was gonna hurt? Fuck that! It was goddamn _excruciating_!

I wanted to, well, pass out, but Juno had moved in front of me, and she held my face up.

"We need to take some of yours, too. Make a new exorcism chant."

Not like I could actually refuse.

I guess she took my silence as a "yes", and nodded to the others.

They ripped away some mine.

And I passed out.

* * *

Nightshade glanced back at Beetlejuice, and shrugged. "I found a more efficient way of doing it."

He didn't need to know the specifics as far as she was concerned.

* * *

**AN:** Personally, I rather like this one. Might even be my favorite. Ummm, I dunno what else to say. How about . . . Thanks for reading!


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